The present invention relates to optical scanners for picking up image of document and converting it into electrical signal, and more particularly to such an optical scanner which uses a sliding box type document carrier to carry document through the scanning area for scanning.
Using a photoelectric element to pick up an image of a document is a well known technique. Regular optical scanners commonly use a photoelectric element to pick up the image of the document, and rollers to carry the document through the scanning area. Carrying the document through scanning area by rollers may cause document to be damaged. If a transparent board is used to hold down the document when the document is moved through the scanning area, light rays from the light source of the scanning mechanism may be distorted. Further, these optical scanners are not practical for scanning documents having an uneven surface.